What Others Waste - put it to good use

I shudder to think about what others waste. It's a lot of stuff to be certain.

Many people, myself included, can live off the waste of others. It's another of my favorite ideas for frugal living.

As you are aware, Americans are very wasteful. Just look at what is discarded from restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries. Thousands of families could live like royalty on just a small percentage of the food that is wasted each day.

The same is true for just about everything else you can imagine. What isn’t discarded is usually sold at deep discounts for smart shoppers like us.

We can create lots of excuses to discard things: it’s out of style, I’m out of room, it's lost its shine, I’m not using it anymore, we got tired of it, and a million other excuses are given for tossing things away or selling them at near giveaway prices.

With all the excuses about waste, what's your excuse for not taking advantage of such opportunities?

Garage sales, estate sales, moving sales and auctions are a great source of good used items that people want to get rid of. Your friends, family and neighbors will give away good used things when they replace them with new. Their waste can be a way for you to save money on things that you need and want.

From just one of my neighbors I've obtained a good working refrigerator, a dining room table with 6 chairs, and sheet metal for roofing and siding. He was glad to get rid of these things and I was glad to have them.

Let look at what other waste. Have you considered scrap wood as firewood, waste oil for outbuilding heating, and building material for sheds, shops and outbuildings? All of these things have value if you know how to extract it. Best of all, there is no end to the amount of stuff that people discard.

Done with What Others Waste, back to Mindset of Frugality